Good Friday. Again.

The boy entered the small candy shop with his mom, bright eyed and full of anticipation for a chocolate treat as most seven-year-olds would. He searched the store for just the right sweet morsel that would satisfy his desire. His eyes sparkled as they studied the bright, Spring colored wrappings of each box, bag, and foil wrapped chocolate. The eggs…the bunnies…the baby chicks…the pastel colored baskets. And then he stopped for a few moments. A box of chocolates with a cross pictured on the front caught his attention. A sad shadow dimmed the brightness in his eyes as he pondered the box with a cross.

To which the seven-year-old complained, “Aww, Mom! Does Jesus have to die again?!?!?”

There were sounds of a few giggles from the other shop customers, as well as smiles of amusement, and a few looks of disapproval. As the shoppers returned to their activity and the sounds of bustle resumed, I noticed the young boy was still pondering the box with the cross pictured on front. He didn’t mean to be funny or disrespectful with his comment. It seemed that in the midst of all the bright Spring colors…the chocolate bunnies…the foil wrapped eggs…and the marshmallow chicks – the representations of new life…resurrected life…there was an understanding by the boy that death had to come first.

And not just any death.

The death of Jesus.

On a cross.

We call it, “Good Friday.” Like the young boy in the candy shop, it’s difficult to see the death of someone…especially Jesus…as good. But so it is. The ultimate goodness of a God who loves us so much that He would pay the ultimate and complete price for us to have a restored relationship with Him. In the midst of reflecting on the pain…the torture…the cruelty…the betrayal…the brutality of being crucified…we also reflect on how He took upon Himself everything we deserved because of our disobedience…our selfishness…our stubbornness…our blatant rejection of God…

Our sin…

And paid the price. For good.

In one sense I would have liked to tell the young boy in the candy store, “No, Jesus doesn’t have to die again. He paid the price once and for all.”

And in my rather small, simple (Dare I say, childlike?) understanding of what Jesus did on the cross I would be correct.

But then I look at my life since the first time I came to truly understand and believe that Jesus’ death on the cross brought (and bought) my salvation, and I have to accept the fact that I have continued to live a life of disobedience, selfishness, stubbornness, and blatant rejection of God. I’ve continued to sin…and so I need to revisit Jesus’ death on the cross. I feel as if I need for Him to die again…in my place…so that I can walk in a continued restored relationship with God. I feel as if I need His death again…and again…and again.

I often find myself wanting to skip the reality of the death on Good Friday and just celebrate the new, resurrected life of Easter Sunday. Like the young boy, I don’t really want to ponder the cross. I want to celebrate and receive the victory of the empty tomb!! The bright colors! The new life!! The joy that He is risen…indeed!!!

But Jesus had to die first before He could rise. He had to pay the price in order to set us free. He willingly submitted Himself to the torture and death for my (our) sake before He could celebrate the victory and defeat of death. Giving me (us) the free gift of a resurrected, restored, and victorious life.

So I say to that young boy in the candy shop, “Yes” and “No.” Good Friday helps us to see that it’s both/and. “No” – the price Jesus paid by dying on the cross was a once-and-for-all sales transaction. Jesus never has to physically ever be crucified again. Like the hymn says, “Jesus paid it all!” But it’s also, “Yes” – because of our continual weakness, rebellion, and tendency towards sin, we have to revisit Jesus’ death again…and seemingly ask Him to pay the price, again…and die…again. Perhaps not physically, and definitely not for the sake of salvation, but on a spiritual level…a sanctification level.

Good Friday is a time of reflection. We pause to, once again, journey with Jesus through the torture of being crucified. We come to the foot of the cross and revisit the fact that Jesus’ death on the cross was our fault…is our fault. And it’s the one thing…the only thing…that restores our broken relationship with God. We come to the foot of the cross…weeping…wincing…in anguish…realizing the price He paid for our sin…and say…

Thank you.

I (we) receive Your forgiveness…Your grace…Your unmerited gift of salvation. I’m sorry that it’s because of me You had to die; then…and now. But I thank You from the bottom of my heart…my mind…and my spirit…for taking my place. I thank You for restoring my relationship with God; then…and now. I take this time…this moment…this Good Friday…to let Jesus die for me…